“Dr. Jarocki,” he said.
Greening introduced himself to the Napa detectives but that was as far as interagency protocols would go tonight. He didn’t have time for niceties. The Tally Man had a head start on them.
Jarocki pushed aside the paramedic who was working on an ugly gash at his temple. “Inspector, I need to talk to you.”
The psychologist pushed himself up from his seat, and Greening guided him back down. Greening dropped to his knees in front of Jarocki, giving the paramedics the room to carry on with their work.
“Tell me what happened.”
“The Tally Man broke into the house. He was going to kill me, but Zo? stopped him.”
“How?”
“She traded herself—her life for mine.”
“Why am I not surprised? That girl seems to have a death wish. Look, Doctor, it’s important we get details from you. When did this happen? What time? The clock is running.”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“The 911 call came in fifty-two minutes ago,” one of the Napa detectives said.
“He made Zo? chloroform herself, then he knocked me out cold. I don’t know how long I’ve been out, but I had just closed a file on my laptop. It’ll be time stamped.
“Where’s the laptop?” the other detective said.
“In my room,” Jarocki said, pointing to the rear of the house.
The detective dashed off.
“Did you see a vehicle or anything?” Greening asked.
“No. He came in through the back of the house.”
The detective returned with Jarocki’s laptop. He fired up the computer and read off the time stamp on the file. Greening checked his watch. The Tally Man had up to an eighty-five-minute head start. That meant the prick could be halfway to Tahoe or in San Jose by now.
Would he travel that far? He hadn’t with Laurie Hernandez. He’d grabbed her and killed her in San Francisco. The first time he’d snatched Zo?, he’d driven her and Holli less than an hour from the grab site. It was more than likely that wherever he was taking Zo?, he’d gotten there by now.
“This guy likes to work close to home,” Greening said to the detectives. “There’s a good chance he’s in the area. We need to canvas commercial districts, farms, rail yards, anywhere secluded and with low security. He likes room to work and areas where no one can hear the noise.”
The detective who’d retrieved the laptop jumped on his cell and walked into another room.
Greening pulled out one of Ogawa’s business cards and handed it to the other detective. “Call him, please. Tell him the Tally Man could be bringing her back home, and they should be looking for a probable kill site there.”
“Sure thing,” the detective said and followed his colleague.
“What else can you tell me?” Greening asked Jarocki. “What did he look like?”
“I didn’t see much of him. He was wearing a ski mask, so I didn’t really see his face, but he was big—six-one or six-two. He was also strong. Not Muscle Beach big, but just strong. Something weird happened though that didn’t make sense to me.”
“What was that?”
“After she made the bargain to go with him quietly in exchange for my life, he tossed her a chloroformed rag to knock herself out with. Just as she raised it to her face, he pulled off his mask.”
“Did you see what he looked like?”
“No, he kept me on his blind side, but he wanted Zo? to see him. She recognized him, Inspector Greening. I saw it in her expression, and it’s the only thing that explains her last words. She said, ‘You. Mall. Phone Thief.’?”
Greening’s heart skipped a beat. She was talking about the perp she’d taken down at the mall. The son of a bitch must have stolen a phone to put himself face-to-face with Zo? to see if she remembered him from Bishop. The balls on the bastard.
“Thank you, Doctor. You’ve been very helpful.”
He pushed himself to his feet and waved the paramedics back, then tore through the house to find the detective on the phone to Ogawa. He took the phone from the guy.
“Edward, she saw his face. It’s a phone thief she took down at the Golden Gate Mall. I’m going over there now. Make some noise for me with their security.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“This is our break. I think we’ve got him.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE